Ahmad Amin Nazar (; 1955 – March 2026) was an Iranian painter, draughtsman, printmaker and art educator. His largely figurative work combined expressive drawing with references to Persian painting, calligraphy, mythology and literature.
After studying fine art in Tehran, Amin Nazar spent approximately eight years in Germany, where he encountered European Neo-expressionism and joined an artists' association in Cologne. He later returned to Iran, where he taught drawing and painting both at universities and privately. Among the younger artists who studied privately with him were brothers Rokni Haerizadeh and Ramin Haerizadeh. The British Museum describes Amin Nazar as an influential painter in its biography of Rokni Haerizadeh.
Early life and education Amin Nazar was born in Abadan in 1955. He attended a fine arts high school before studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran, where his teachers included Hannibal Alkhas and Mohsen Vaziri-Moghaddam.
During his student years he was interested in the work of Francisco Goya, Honoré Daumier and Eugène Delacroix. In a later interview he described his early concern with avoiding direct imitation and developing an individual approach to drawing and painting.
He began making etchings while at university. Some of his prints were included in an international print exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in 1985.
Germany and return to Iran In 1986 Amin Nazar left Iran, initially travelling to Paris and subsequently settling in Germany. He lived in Cologne, joined the local BBK artists' association and was exposed to contemporary European painting, particularly Neo-expressionism.
An exhibition text published by e-flux describes his period in Germany as lasting eight years. He returned to Iran in the mid-1990s and resumed his artistic and teaching activities in Tehran.
Work Amin Nazar's practice was strongly based in drawing. Line remained a central element from his early etchings to his later paintings and large works on paper.
His paintings are predominantly figurative. Recurring imagery includes wrestlers, mythical heroes, divs or demons, masks and figures derived from Iranian visual and literary traditions. These subjects are combined with an expressive pictorial language shaped partly by his experience of European modern and Neo-expressionist painting.
Iranian painting, calligraphy and Persian literature also provided visual and conceptual sources for his work. Rather than reproducing historical forms directly, Amin Nazar incorporated them into a contemporary language based on gestural drawing and the expressive potential of the human figure.
The Centre Cannot Hold In 2010 Amin Nazar presented his first solo exhibition in Dubai, The Centre Cannot Hold, at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde. The paintings featured wrestlers, demonic masks and dark figurative scenes combining references to Iranian traditions with the history of European painting.
A catalogue of the exhibition is held by the Asia Art Archive.
Salto Amin Nazar's 2012–2013 exhibition Salto at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde marked a shift away from the heroes, demons and mythological imagery prominent in some of his earlier paintings.
The exhibition consisted primarily of large works on paper depicting intertwined bodies in motion. Writer and curator Vali Mahlouji compared Amin Nazar's rapid, exploratory brushwork with the primi pensieri and disegni of Renaissance and Old Master traditions. The works could often be viewed from several orientations, changing the perceived relationship between the intertwined figures.
Mahlouji interpreted wrestling in these works as a metaphor for both internal and external conflict, encompassing aggression, intimacy, eroticism and instability.
Teaching and influence Amin Nazar taught for a period at the Tehran School of Visual Arts before leaving Iran. After returning, he taught at Islamic Azad University in Tehran and at an art university in Yazd.
He also conducted private drawing classes. Rokni Haerizadeh and Ramin Haerizadeh studied with him in Tehran. The British Museum's biography of Rokni Haerizadeh describes Amin Nazar as an “influential painter” whose private tutorials were attended by both brothers.
Exhibitions The British Museum records Amin Nazar's solo exhibitions at several Tehran galleries, including Arya Gallery, Seyhoun Gallery, Assar Gallery and Homa Gallery.
Selected solo exhibitions include:
Arya Gallery, Tehran, 1995 and 1996; Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran, 2004; Assar Gallery, Tehran, 2006; Homa Gallery, Tehran, 2007; The Centre Cannot Hold, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, 2010; Salto, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, 2012–2013.
His work was also shown in Tehran painting biennials and group exhibitions, as well as international art fairs including Abu Dhabi Art and The Armory Show in New York.
Collections and art market The British Museum holds a work by Amin Nazar in its collection and identifies him as an Iranian painter, draughtsman and printmaker.
His work has also appeared at international auctions. In 2015, Bonhams offered two mixed-media works on paper from 2010, including Officers. His works have appeared repeatedly at the Tehran Auction.
Publication In 2010 a book of Amin Nazar's work titled Metamorphosis () was published in Tehran by Nazar Publications. The volume combined reproductions of his paintings with historical photographs, artworks and textual sources that informed his practice; its graphic design was by Reza Abedini.
Death Amin Nazar's death was reported on 10 March 2026. He was 70. The Iranian Students' News Agency reported that he had died at his home and that acquaintances subsequently discovered his death.
A memorial group exhibition devoted to Amin Nazar was held at Art Center Gallery in Tehran in May and June 2026.
See also
Iranian modern and contemporary art Hannibal Alkhas Mohsen Vaziri-Moghaddam Rokni Haerizadeh Ramin Haerizadeh
References
External links
Ahmad Amin Nazar at the British Museum